This invention relates to a nail removing hammer which has at least one nail removing means in addition to a conventional rearwardly extending claw. More particularly, the invention relates to a hammer having particular utility for removing a double-head nail and other nails which are difficult to remove.
Hammers having standard claws are generally limited in mechanical advantage for pulling nails. Nails which are particularly difficult to remove such as double-head nails (sometimes referred to as "duplex" or "scaffold" nails), glue coated nails, nails having ribbed shanks, and other large nails, are particularly problematic for conventional clawed hammers to remove because the nail is located at a relatively long distance from the fulcrum of rotation, thereby requiring a very large rotational force to begin the nail removal process. The removal of a very large number of scaffold nails with a conventional nail-removing tool is extremely tiring.
The hammer of the invention has at least one claw in addition to the conventional rearwardly extending forked claw. The additional claw is a side entry notch in the top portion of the hammer head, and is located rearwardly from the poll, and just forwardly of a longitudinal plane extending through the center of the hammer handle. The claw is designed to remove nails which have a head portion already extending above the wood surface, and provides a very large mechanical advantage for the initial (and most difficult) portion of removal of the nail. The hammer of the invention optionally has an additional claw located in the throat portion of the hammer which is also accessible from the side of the hammer for continuing the removal of the nail after the initial portion of its removal. This claw is particularly useful for the removal of long nails.
The problem of removing long nails with standard-claw hammers has been recognized for many years. One approach to solving the problem is to have a movable arm which extends outwardly from the top of the hammer and which can act as a fulcrum (thus replacing the block of wood) when pulling long nails. Examples of tools having this capability are shown in U.S. patents Thayer, U.S. Pat. No. 35,715, Shepard, U.S. Pat. No. 587,242, Palmer, U.S. Pat. No. 856,097, Frey, U.S. Pat. No. 1,125,999, Eveleth, U.S. Pat. No. 540,967, and Rairden, U.S. Pat. No. 1,132,879. While these devices provide additional leverage for removing long nails, the requirement of having moving parts generally makes the hammers somewhat more expensive and less durable. In addition, each time a long nail must be removed, the hammer must be adjusted to provide for the extended fulcrum.
It is also known to incorporate various types of nail-extracting devices in addition to or in replacement of a standard claw for hammers or similar hand tools. For example, in David, U.S. Pat. No. 3,150,858, a straight-claw hammer having two additional claws with openings circumferential to the hammer head is disclosed. The nail is removed by engaging the head in the claw and rotating the hammer around the axis of the hammer head, in effect wrapping the nail around the hammer body. Additional torque must be applied by hand since the fulcrum is off-center to the handle. Furthermore, this device is not adapted to remove nails in tight places. Similar devices showing claws which engage the nail and are rotated about the body axis to to remove the nail are found in Darr et al, U.S. Pat. No. 1,600,275, and Chase, U.S. Pat. No. 516,644. In Thorson, U.S. Pat. No. 1,656,652, Darr et al, U.S. Pat. No. 1,600,275, and Andersen, U.S. Pat. No. 1,713,810, tools are disclosed having notches in side portions of conventional hammer claws which are used to engage nails for removal. Both of these tools are used in the standard manner, i.e., rotation of handle over head, as is experienced with a conventional claw hammer. A further unusual claw design including a plurality of transverse slots in a rearwardly extending claw member is disclosed in Connor, U.S. Pat. No. 3,963,215.
Treat, U.S. Pat. No. 587,623, shows a throat-located claw for removing long nails which is accessible from the top portion of the claw immediately beneath the hammer poll. Knight, U.S. Pat. No. 638,341, shows a similar claw accessible from the bottom portion of the claw which is located underneath the conventional curved claw at the back of the hammer. Hebblethwaite, U.S. Pat. No. 529,384, shows a claw in the curved rearward portion of the hammer similar to a forked claw, with the claw being formed by a cavity at the rear portion of the hammer rather than the conventional open dual-forked claw.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a hammer having a large mechanical advantage for the extraction of nails which are difficult to remove. It is a further object of the invention to provide a hammer which provides a nail-removing claw having a substantially greater mechanical advantage than conventional hammers. It is another object of the invention to provide a hammer which is durable, yet very easy and inexpensive to manufacture. These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description of several preferred embodiments of the hammer of the invention.